AS Lennon marks four years in the Celtic hotseat he admits his eagerness to impress led him to act in a volatile manner on the touchline at the outset of his managerial career.

THE touchline histrionics might have gone but the hurt after every defeat remains.

Neil Lennon marked four years in the Celtic hotseat yesterday and will almost certainly celebrate it with three in a row this week.

The Irishman can move a step closer to a hat-trick of Scottish top-flight crowns tonight at Firhill.

Lennon
admits time has flown in after initially landing the job on a temporary
basis the day after Tony Mowbray’s disastrous short reign ended with a crushing 4-0 defeat at St Mirren.

Looking back now the Celtic boss reckons he was too eager to impress at times.

He’d get so uptight on the touchline he’d kick every ball.

When
that didn’t work he’d aim his boot at water bottles, whacking a tray of
them into the air at Inverness in his first full season during a defeat
that cost Hoops the title.

Memories
of those early pressure-pot days come flooding back to Lennon when he looks at Tim Sherwood now desperately trying to prove himself at Spurs.

There
was the low of the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Ross County which Lennon feared might cost him his chance of the job to the incredible high of the electrifying night Celts beat Barcelona.

But
he believes it’s handling the disappointments that marks the truly great managers. That’s why he has so much respect for top bosses like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

Lennon said: “Some days I think my four years have gone quickly and other days I think it’s been much longer.

“It’s my father’s birthday as well so a double celebration.

“I’ve changed. It was the exuberance of being in the job for the first time and wanting to make an impression.

“The hurt still doesn’t go away when you lose and the competitive juices are still there when you’re on the touchline but there have definitely been changes.

“I look at Tim Sherwood and see similarities
to when I first took the job. With experience you grow into it and there aren’t as many histrionics. It takes incredible reserves of inner strength.

“I look at managers such as Fergie, Wenger, Jose Mourinho and although they’ve had great success they’ve also had huge disappointments. It fascinates me how they bounce back.

“Over
27 years you always think about Sir Alex’s great achievements but there
were huge disappointments – two Champions League finals, losing titles to Man City and Blackburn – and I wonder how he felt.

“The
amount of work you put into it just to lose the title on the last day or lose a major cup final – how did he feel? It’s a really desolate place sometimes but only he knows how he felt. Ferguson always spoke about defeats as something you’ve to deal with on the day.

“But he didn’t go into stuff in-depth about how he felt about it himself.

“It’s
a pride thing. Your team is you, an extension of you on the pitch and when you lose it dents your pride. At a big club you are expected to win, the expectation level gets higher every year. Sometimes unrealistically.”

Ex-Rangers
boss Dick Advocaat claimed Old Firm managers had a four-year shelf life
and Lennon insists the job has got even tougher since then.

He looks at the revolving door at Nottingham Forest which this week saw Billy Davies axed and then Neil Warnock turning down the offer to succeed him, hinting Kuwaiti owner Fawaz Al Hasawi wanted a say in team affairs.

Lennon
said: “The job has become more difficult because you’re under so much analysis – and social media has really gone into overdrive.

“Your
personality traits, your tactics – everything is discussed to the nth degree. People out there in cyberworld analyse you to death.

“I can understand why Dick Advocaat gave Old Firm managers a four-year shelf life.

“Football
is 100 mph now. Forest are on their fifth manager in just over a year and some good ones like Steve McClaren, Alex McLeish and Billy Davies. It’s like they want a quick fix and that’s not always the way to go.”

After tonight’s trip to Firhill, Lennon can look forward to a potential Parkhead
party against Ross County on Saturday. And it was winning his first title as boss when the Irishman felt at home as Hoops boss.

He
said: “Once we won the title at Kilmarnock that day two years ago I thought, ‘Well, you’re totally justified now in being the manager’.

“The next step was – could we take it on in Europe?

“The third year – last year – was amazing really. It’s been a pretty good four years. I don’t get carried away but I’m proud of what we’ve done so far.